Recent trade upsets shouldn’t obscure the long-term growth picture. Including the European Union (as a single market of 28 countries), Canada’s top export agri-food products markets are seen above.

Growing food exports a bright spot

The current trade dispute with China will see exports to that country drop in 2019

Amid all the negative trade news something positive: last year Canada exported a record $59.3 billion of agri-food products. That’s up three per cent from 2017, the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance (CAFTA) says in its April newsletter. “The gains are being fuelled by ever-increasing global demand for world-class Canadian products including in key markets such

Canada - U.S. border crossing

Editorial: Winds of war

Are we staring down the barrel of another agriculture trade war? That’s the multibillion-dollar question that should be keeping the Manitoba agriculture sector up at night. After all, there are few that are more trade dependent. Manitoba is an export juggernaut. A few numbers from Statistics Canada help set the stage. In 2017 Manitoba sent


The political tensions between China and Canada are increasing day by day, and Canadian canola producers want the federal government to make their move.

Restoring canola exports to China ‘chess, not checkers’

Canadian captives complicate things, nevertheless, some farmers have lost patience and confidence in Ottawa

Some Canadian farmers, no closer to knowing when they’ll regain access to their biggest canola customer, are going from feelings of uncertainty and anxiety to anger and frustration. “We demand action,” Ian Steppler, who farms near Deerwood, Man., wrote on Facebook last week. The federal government and grain industry are committed to restoring Canadian canola

Cash advance changes to help canola farmers’ cash flow

Cash advance changes to help canola farmers’ cash flow

A host of changes to the cash advance program are aimed at addressing market loss for canola producers, but some frustrated farmers say it’s just a band-aid, not a solution. For 2019 the maximum cash advance — loans issued to farmers against growing or stored crops and livestock — will be $1 million instead of


The working group created to restore canola seed exports to China and find other markets is discussing establishing a trade office in Asia.

Canola trade missions start in Japan, Korea in June

Canada is also trying to save the WTO, which enforces rules-based trade

China’s Canadian canola seed boycott demonstrates Canada is too dependent on one country. That’s why Trade Diversification Minister Jim Carr, along with Canada’s canola industry, is kicking off a canola trade mission in Japan and South Korea in June. “We will be working closely with the sector to identify other opportunities for trade missions in

Why so much Canadian canola has gone to China

Why so much Canadian canola has gone to China

The economic superpower is the biggest buyer of many agricultural products

China has been buying about 40 per cent of the canola seed Canada exports, so losing that market, even temporarily, is a blow. That’s a lot of eggs in one basket. But it shouldn’t be a surprise, says Brian Innes, the Canola Council of Canada’s (CCC) vice-president of public affairs and president of the Canadian


Stuck in the middle on world trade

Stuck in the middle on world trade

In a world of trade disputes between economic superpowers, Canada needs to develop its capacity to respond quickly

Industry leaders say Canada needs to step up its efforts to protect the agricultural sector’s interest in what has been characterized as “… the most protectionist era since the Great Depression.” While it’s encouraging that reference by Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland shows the federal government is aware of the issues caused by rising trade

(File photo)

U.S. wins WTO ruling on Chinese grains

Geneva | Reuters — The United States won a World Trade Organization ruling on China’s price support for grains, successfully challenging a calculation methodology that is also used by India. A WTO adjudication panel agreed on Thursday with the U.S. complaint that China had paid farmers too much for wheat, Indica rice and Japonica rice


U.S. President Donald Trump

There’s method to Trump’s madness

Agricultural economist says the president’s seemingly chaotic trade policy is aimed at ending constraints

Donald Trump’s trade policy seems chaotic, but it’s not, according to University of Saskatchewan agricultural economist Bill Kerr. “I think they (U.S. administration) know what they are doing,” Kerr, who specializes in trade, told the annual Fields on Wheels conference in Winnipeg this fall. By pulling out of trade deals (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue (l) and U.S. Representative Rodney Davis of Illinois take farmers’ questions at a farm in Champaign, Illinois October 24, 2018.

Penny for your corn?

Stingy trade war aid irks U.S. farmers

Iowa corn farmer Bob Hemesath jokes that the government cheque he expects as compensation for his trade war losses will soon allow him to splurge on upscale coffee in town instead of his usual burnt gas station brew. Rob Sharkey, an Illinois farmer, hopes his corn trade aid cheque will be big enough for that